'Stint with Delhi will help my growth'

Having made a reasonable debut for the Delhi franchise, Australian pace bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile believes that the stint with the franchise will help him grow as a cricketer.

Speaking to the T20 League's official website, he said playing for the franchise will help not just him but a host of other young players to build their career.

"Delhi is the place, which will help me grow as a cricketer. Apart from me, there are a lot of other youngsters who will come through as better cricketers and I can promise you that. I dont think anyone here will leave Delhi franchise without improving their game", he said.

Delhi finally shed their losing habit in the Indian T20 League. Yesterday's win was their first victory in eight games and Coulter-Nile was understandably relieved at having tasted success. "Of course! First win for the boys and that is a huge positive. It was a good all-round performance by the guys. The batting performance was good right from the very start with Mayank Agarwal getting us off to a flier. He was fantastic and so were Dinesh Karthik and JP Duminy who got us home beautifully", he said.

The Australian quickie credited fellow opening bowling partner, India's spearhead, Mohammad Shami for getting the team off to a great start. In what was an erratic first over, Shami struck a vital blow, dismissing Jacques Kallis for a duck.

"Credit to Mohammed Shami as well who bowled a really good first over to get Jacques Kallis out early. Except for the wides, his first over was spot on. When I got the ball in my hand in the second over, I felt the pressure was on the opposition and I was trying to keep it up", Coulter-Nile said.

"This is just the beginning and it will be great to work with him. Shami is bowling beautifully and I was actually surprised how much skill he had. Coming to training, he hits his yorkers nine times out of 10 and gets a beautiful shape. He has a beautiful wrist position; it is very good to watch him bowl. His skill level and his changes in pace are also quite good", the pace bowler added.

Coulter-Nile was full of praise for the two coaches, head coach, Gary Kirsten and bowling coach, Eric Simons. Kirsten, he said had great technical ability and insight into the game. "Gary has been really good. He is always willing to come to you and have a chat and has always got an open door, which is fantastic. His insight into cricket is like nothing I have seen before. He has a lot of game awareness, which I havent really thought too much about. Gary literally sat me down and talked about how I construct my overs and stuff, which I have never thought about. To sit down and actually think about what I am doing is probably the biggest thing I can grasp," Coulter-Nile said.

He was effusive in his praise of Simons as well. "Eric understands my bowling and my action and it is going to be the same as it has been. I will keep working on the things he wants me to work on and get better from that", he added.